As the Mayor’s press service reported earlier, Mr. Luzhkov was supposed to discuss the issue of rendering humanitarian aid to the republic.

However, tensions keep growing between Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Loshchinin declared in the State Duma today that the situation was fueled by Georgian officials. The Foreign Ministry of Russia appealed for “calm and responsibility for not only what Georgia says, but for what it does too.”

Answering the questions regarding the possibility of imposing economic sanctions against Georgia Mr. Loshchinin mentioned that the Foreign Ministry of Russia did not support any sanctions, including economic, considering them counterproductive. “We’ve got to calm down and be more patient and responsible,” the official declared and stressed that Russia was making enough political efforts. Talking about the protection of Russians who live in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, he said: “We guarantee the security of our citizens and will ensure it.”

Russian lawmakers were also interested in US influence in Georgia. Mr. Loshchinin commented that the United States has been exerting more influence on Georgia lately. “And we don’t like it,” the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia admitted, noting that Russia insisted on the United States recognizing its interests in Georgia.

Meanwhile, Abkhazian Foreign Minister Igor Akhba had his say in an interview with Echo of Moscow radio today. According to him, Abkhazia wants to cooperate with Russia closely in solving defense problems, in guarding borders, in the sphere of a customs union and currency issues.

"This is not the proposal to join Russia," he emphasized. 70 percent of the Abkhazian population are Russian citizens, who want to secure tighter relations with Russia, he elaborated.